Over the past 90 years, several methods of attaching sun-shielding eyewear to hat wear have been patented. These different methods have been influenced by ever-changing fashions and consumer demands.
In 1916, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,182,784 by Baker, the idea of connecting an eye shield to a cap is shown in its early stages. In this patent, side clips are used to connect the shield to a cap that is of the style worn during the early 20th Century.
In 1929, Inventor Prichard in U.S. Pat. No. 1,829,538 demonstrated an early method for connecting an eyeglass shade to a golf cap using clips. The object was both to enhance a golf player""s ability to keep their head still and to minimize distractions from a golfer""s lateral vision. The style of the golf cap is consistent with those worn in the late 1920""s.
By 1951, Inventor Vaca in U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,641 provided a more complex attachment mechanism for connecting sunglasses to a baseball style cap. The user now could adjust the glasses from a state of use to non-use as the glasses were both pivotally and slidably adjustable.
Since Vaca""s invention, others have improved upon his mechanism and have changed the apparatus to conform to changing fashions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,274 by Day (1989), a mounting block for holding sunglasses, connected to a visor cap, is shown. A dovetail grove is detailed which allows the user to adjust the eye shield backwards and forwards. This mechanism improved upon the adjustability of the eye shield and was adapted to the open visors that became popular in the 1980s. Other recent mechanisms for attaching eyewear to open visors also include U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,025 by Wang (1994) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,460 by Mills (1996). Wang describes a mechanism for connecting eyewear to a visor using flexigrip-catch pairs. Mills describes a visor including earpieces upon which eyewear can be attached.
Inventor Day in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,124 (1993), provided a mechanism which did not require any special groove or other attachments, unlike his previous invention in 1989. A clip with a slide block is described which attaches to the center of the cap visor. The eye shield contains a support which attaches to the slide block, allowing the eye shield to be pivotally and slidably adjusted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,916 (1993), Inventor Kelman provided a mechanism of having two parallel rails on the visor of a cap upon which a sun shield could be attached. In 1995, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,686, Kelman provided another mechanism in which sunglasses were attached to a single horizontal rail on the cap visor.
Further variations were developed throughout the mid to late 1990s. In 1995, A clip-on sunglasses assembly was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,259 by Cahill. In 1996, a flexible sunglass film attached to a hat using Velcro was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,841 by Valetta. In 1999, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,640 by Ryder, a new mechanism for adjusting an eye-shield from Use to a Rest Position underneath the visor of the cap is shown. In 2001, Inventor Maher in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,706, provided a mechanism that similarly allowed the user to flip sunglasses from a use to rest position, but also made the mechanism detachable from the visor of the cap.
What is desired, is a means for preventing breaking of delicate parts and loss of small parts, especially when the device is placed in a washing machine.